Poppy's eyes burn with tears, overcome with relief. She didn't expect that Prince Jungkook would be willing to listen to her. But she feels glad that she took the chance.

After what happened on the day of the wedding, when she and the others were tricked by the vile and queer-looking Sir Whatshisname, Poppy has been wary about trusting anyone from the castle. She was so enraged that she truly believed that the entire royal family and its squires had set up a trap when they first took you into the castle.

However, in her mission to find out what actually happened and who might have been responsible, Poppy had spent the entire afternoon watching the prince from a distance, and she can now see that his distress upon his failure of finding you seems genuine.

Surely, the man who seems to have spent his day and night searching for you—and is looking as if he is in dire need of sleep for thinking about you—wouldn't be the one responsible of your disappearance.

Looking at the ground around her, Poppy settles on a small fallen branch as a tool to help her describe everything that had happened. Because words from a tiny creature like herself wouldn't be enough.

Using the branch, Poppy begins to carve the ground, sketching out images as she relays to the prince all the events she witnessed leading to your disappearance.

Poppy draws their arrival; with you in your wedding dress arriving in the carriage and your little friends accompanying you; Sir Noah welcoming you at the gate. Then she tells him about Sir Noah separating you from the others, promising to have knights and servants coming to help you prepare, before sending Poppy and the others to the wrong side of the property and kicking everyone out of the castle.

She hears Jungkook's breath hitching at this part, a crease forming between his brows, yet Poppy continues.

When Poppy tells him about the part where she managed to climb up the castle walls to see you standing in front of a fountain, Jungkook's entire body tenses. "She was at the old fountain?"

Poppy cocks her heard. "So you know about the fountain, my Prince?"

Jungkook quickly shakes his head. "Surely, I would. The magic fountain had been there for as long as I lived. The water comes out from the massive rock hidden behind the grove of trees growing against the castle walls, it used to cause massive flooding on that part of the castle, yet the water wouldn't stop flowing. Once it was found that the spring contained magic, the Queen built a fountain around the spring to contain the water," the prince explains, "But the place is restricted. Only those who are permitted or given the spell to enter through the restriction can find it."

Poppy is confused. "Well, Blossom didn't go there alone. I saw someone with her."

"Who was it?"

Poppy begins to draw the old hag who was there with you. Unfortunately, she only witnessed everything from the distance, so all she can give the prince is the vague description of the old, mysterious hag; with her slightly hunched back, a dirty worn-out cloak that covered her entire body, and the curly strands of silver hair framing her face.

Poppy also adds the hag's slightly disfigured face, with her sharp nose and curved lips, and pointed cheeks, yet she cannot recall the eyes, except that they were dark and slightly wicked that they still give her the chills thinking about it now.

"This is all I can give you, my Prince. I was too far away, so I cannot be sure if I was seeing things right. When I finally reached the fountain, your bride was gone and there was no trace of the old hag anywhere."

"How odd," he muses, almost to himself as he is lost in thoughts.

"Your Highness? Is there something—"

Poppy's words are cut off when she hears footsteps coming down the pathway. Prince Jungkook doesn't notice it yet, but her body is frozen, and the urge to flee the place is clawing at her from within.

The incident from before, when she was tricked by the prince's trusted man—Sir Unfriendlylooking—and then kicked out of the castle flashes through her mind that she immediately begins to tremble.

The prince starts to speak, only to be interrupted by the deep voices of their intruders.

"Your Highness, are you there?"

"Prince Jungkook, is everything all right?"

Poppy's fear is lifted when she realises that neither of those voices comes from the scary royal aide from before. Yet her body is still tense, and her mind simply goes into a survival mode as she begins to plan out ways to run away.

As Prince Jungkook recognises the voices of his knights, he rises to his feet to answer them. Immediately, Poppy jumps to grab the hem of his trousers to stop him. "Wait, Your Highness!"

"What's wrong? They're my knights. Are you afraid of them?"

"I—" She stammers as she clutches the small branch to her chest. "I should probably go. I can't be seen here by anyone. I had to struggle to find my way into the castle, so they'll kick me out if they see me, for sure. Please, Your Highness, promise me you'll look for ________ and bring her home to us."

Poppy isn't sure that the prince is going to let her leave, when he doesn't say anything. He merely gives her an odd look, as if suddenly feeling suspicious with the way the squirrel is acting. Maybe she shouldn't worry too much, seeing that whoever is standing on the other side of these bushes may not be connected to the old man that frightens her so. Yet she still cannot risk it. She wouldn't.

Thankfully, Prince Jungkook seems to notice her need to flee and think nothing more of it.

"I still need some more information, and I might need your help," he simply says to her. "Find me here in the morning. We'll do well to work together to find your friend Blossom, my bride, but if you must go, then you should go for now and rest. I'll handle the rest from here."

Poppy feels hopeful, but it doesn't stop her from worrying about the risk that she will have to take for coming back to the castle again. "But, Prince—"

"Go, I'll wait for you here. I promise."

Something in the prince's gaze makes her want to believe him. So she does. With a nod, Poppy promises both to herself and the prince that she will come back the moment the sun rises so they could work together to start searching for you.

Right as the footsteps keep drawing nearer, Poppy slips away between the bushes and back into the night, making her way back home so she can report back to her friends and your grandmother who are waiting for news.

Jungkook watches the squirrel make her escape through the bushes, and he continues to watch until he sees her faint shadow disappearing up the trees growing near the outer wall of the castle.

As he watches her go, Jungkook begins to wonder why the squirrel would be so jumpy and tense, only because of the knights coming. He thinks back about her words, but nothing seems to make sense. His eyes find the rough sketches on the ground, and he takes the time to memorise each one of them the best he can.

He doesn't want to believe that one of the wedding guests has done something foul to harm you and cause you to disappear on the wedding day. He also cannot think of any reason why someone would try to sabotage the royal wedding.

Prince Jungkook remains silent for a moment as he studies the rough sketch of the person that Poppy claims to have been there with you to look at the fountain. He wonders what might have happened to you next. Surely, if you had simply drowned in the fountain, the knights would have found you when Jungkook ordered them to search through every corner of the castle, leaving not an inch of the property overlooked.

Unless something else has stopped the knights from getting close to the fountain, or that whoever took you had done their best to hide any clues or trails.

But why must they lure you to the fountain, risking the possibility of them getting caught, being so close to the wedding venue?

What could have happened after?

While Jungkook tries to think of any possible scenario that you may have encountered, the knights emerge through the pathway, coming to a sudden halt as they see their prince standing in the dark, all by himself.

"Forgive us for interrupting your private time, Your Highness. We were sent by the Queen's advisor to find you," one of the knights greets him with a bow.

"That's quite all right. I am on my way to see the Queen, after all."

The knights' eyes grow wide. "I am afraid the Queen is—" The knights look at each other, looking unsure, which only makes Jungkook believe that there is something more about this whole situation that seems uncanny. That perhaps the squirrel—Poppy—had some real reason why she feared getting caught that she trembled simply for hearing some knights coming to them.

"Her Majesty has locked herself in her chambers after dinnertime. The Queen's advisor is currently with Her Majesty for a private discussion about some issues regarding the kingdom, but he had specifically requested that we bring you back before the night grows too late, just to make sure that you are safe."

Don't you mean to make sure that I have not—and will not—escaped from the castle unnoticed?

Jungkook can only wonder about this with disdain, though he has no way of sharing his thoughts out loud. No way of confirming that Sir Noah has probably ordered to keep the prince hostage in his own castle.

"Is that so?" he asks. Feeling bitter and uneasy, Jungkook takes one last look at the sketch of the possible suspect behind your disappearance, before turning to the knights. "Well then, why don't you walk me back and inform Sir Noah to send the servants for my dinner."

The knights appear to be relieved, as if grateful that the prince agrees to go with them willingly. "Very well, Your Highness."

"After you," Jungkook instructs the guards to walk ahead. As he makes his way to follow the guards, Jungkook steals a glance over his shoulder to make sure that his new little accomplice has managed to escape, completely unnoticed by the guards. Having someone on his side gives him a new hope, reassuring him to try all he might to be able to find you and bring you back home.